Friday, December 3, 2010

Headlines - Friday December 3

The Bar-tailed Godwit is the longest flier of any bird species, flying nearly 7,000 miles without stopping. No man-made aircraft comes close to that distance.

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John Boehner On GOP Not Getting Their Way On Tax Cuts: 'Chicken Crap'

John Boehner is very upset that the Democratic Party is trying to use their majorities in Congress and their presidency to pass a bill that is actually consistent with what they told the voters was their philosophy when they elected them. "I'm trying to catch my breath so I don't refer to this maneuver that's going on today as chicken crap, all right? But this is nonsense!" Boehner, a character in a G-rated animated children's movie, yelped today. Republicans are very upset that Democrats are not allowing them to compromise, as they thought they would. "Compromise," as we all know, is an English word that means "give the Republicans exactly what they want."

More Boehner:

"While we had a good meeting at the White House yesterday about how we'll resolve the issue of stopping all the tax hikes, the House leaders are going to go down this path of gerrymandering the process so that members only have one option, and that's to vote on only providing some tax relief to the American people. I think it's wrong, it does undercut the conversation we had just yesterday," he told reporters Wednesday evening.

Boehner just cannot get his head around this. A majority party has the gall to pass something that is not to the liking of the minority party? That's not how a democracy works at all!

Republicans want to make all the Bush tax cuts permanent, even for the very wealthy. Their "compromise" is to just extend the tax cuts for a few years. And in a few years, they expect to be the party in power once again, of course. So why won't the Democrats just let them have what they want right now? This is making John Boehner go insane! Making laws is not supposed to be so hard! CHICKEN CRAP!

But don't worry, Democrats will probably give in and make this "compromise" anyway. [WP/The Hill]

Todd Palin, the husband of former Alaskan governor Sarah Palin, may be the next in the family to appear on "Dancing with the Stars". According to E! Online, a source says that the show wants him…..BIG TIME.

"They want him big time. They'd love Sarah, but they don't think that will ever happen, so why not go for the dad."

The source also claims that Meghan McCain is being courted as well to compete in next year's season.

From what I remember, "Dancing With the Stars" had originally approached Todd Palin, who turned them down. Sarah, smelling money and attention to be had, then offered up Bristol. And if Margaret Cho is telling the truth, Bristol wasn't all that thrilled to be doing it.

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On the matter of repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, John McCain has said in the past that he would defer to the judgment of the military brass. We now know what he actually meant to say was that he would defer to the judgment of the military on DADT if and only if they came to the exact same conclusions which he, Mr. Phony Maverick and homophobe, held firm to. Namely, gays pose a dangerous threat to the stability and cohesiveness of the armed forces.

We know all this because the Pentagon's review paper states that they are in favor of repealing DADT and yet, Sen. McCain is still holding strong to his beliefs.

In his opening statement today, McCain challenged the comprehensiveness of the report, saying only a quarter of the armed services were surveyed. The report, he said, "does not lead to one unequivocal solution."

He also said he wanted to make sure the debate is "focused on the military and its effectiveness, not broad social issues being debated in our society." McCain has earlier this week questioned the military experience of those supporting repeal — who include those testifying today, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen and the co-chairs of the review, Gen. Carter Ham, who is on tap to become the next commander of AFRICOM, and Jeh Johnson, the department's general counsel.

Jackass. Let me say it one more time; John McCain is the best reason for introducing term limits in Congress.

"By attacking the democratically elected President of the United States of America at a sensitive time in her country's history, she shows the tact of a boorish drunkard bawling obscenities at a funeral….

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And now she turns not only against the fibre and backbone of her country, but against its democratically elected President, accusing him of being incompetent for not stopping Wikileaks. Where was she and where was her GOP before and during the 9/11 attacks? She accuses President Obama of not taking "steps" to assure the leaks were not published. What "steps"?……

If anything is a threat to the national security of the United States of America, it is this screaming, unrefined oaf with as much class as a searing release of flatulence followed by hysterical giggling at a state banquet. Is this what the people of the USA deserve?

"I mean if we can't win that argument, we might as well fold up. These people are saying we are going to insist on tax cuts for the richest people in the country and we don't care if they are paid for, and we don't think it is a problem if it contributes to the deficit, but we are not going to vote to extend unemployment benefits to working people if they aren't paid for because they contribute to the deficit. I mean, what is wrong with that? How can it be more clear?" Ted Strickland on the inability of the Democrats to sell the idea of only extending the tax rates for the middle class

The House just passed an extension of only the middle class tax cuts, by a comfortable margin. There are now 229 votes in favor.

This is a minor victory. The Senate is the domain of mopes like Kent Conrad and Ben Nelson and that's where the real test will be -- even though only extending the tax rates for the middle class is supported by a 51 percent majority.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is rescinding its decision to expand offshore oil exploration into the eastern Gulf of Mexico and along the Atlantic coast because of weaknesses in federal regulation revealed by the BP oil spill, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced on Wednesday.

Though the judges along the Gulf Coast will surely have something to say about this. But a positive step considering the largest oil spill in American history.

For the first time since 1983, a House member has been censured "The House has voted to censure Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), the once-powerful chairman of the Ways and Means panel, for a string of ethics violations. ... In a vote of 333-79, the House handed down its steepest form of punishment short of expulsion to one of the most senior and beloved members of the House. ... Rangel is only the 23rd lawmaker to be censured in the history of the House and the fifth in the last 100 years."

If we're reading this correctly, the 2010 midterm elections just signed a book deal! Congrats, midterms! You deserve it.

O'Donnell's book will take the reader behind the scenes of her race for the Senate, and embody O'Donnell's identification with America's frustrations and concerns with the current political climate. According to O'Donnell, "The 2010 midterm elections were just the beginning—the first rumblings of a revolution that has not fully erupted. I plan on making my book one of the revolution's catalysts."

Yes, O'Donnell rubbed this nation, but it didn't erupt. And a book about how she lived off campaign credit cards to buy food and shelter for the past few years definitely sounds like the way to initiate a coup d'etat against the most powerful government on the planet.

Another tool to help you keep track of who owns your congress critter Foreign Lobbying dot org has developed a tool that lets you look up the contributions taken by any member of congress from lobbyists representing foreign interests, as well as any contact they have had with lobbyists, whether they take any money or not. BG was pleased to see that her household has given more money to Emanuel Cleaver in the last year than foreign lobbyists have in total, and had way more contact with him, too.